RoboCop: The Bed Time Story
by Micke Karlsson
Summary: How about a bed time story without princesses, wicked witches and white castles? How about one of blood soaked violence, loss of identity and victory through vengeance and gunfire? How about Paul Verhoeven's RoboCop - as a rhyming bed time story?


**RoboCop  
The Bed Time Story**

_Let it be known that in this tale is violent death and drugs  
But freed from nasty curse words are the people and the thugs_

**A note to whoever intend to read this**  
The following is written in rhyme, and a certain rhythm should be used while reading it,  
to make sure the rhymes work to everyone's satisfaction. I have done my best to insert  
a comma somewhere in most lines to try to indicate the beat to anyone, other than myself,  
who might try to read it. Some lines are intended to be read slowly (as they are short),  
while I in others have crammed in a lot of words…still intending them to fit into the same space.  
It is definitely a "practice makes perfect" kind of thing, because it is almost impossible to  
get the beat right throughout the story on the first go. And even if it sometimes looks  
impossible, be assured that I have checked, double checked and triple checked,  
and the beat is there.  
You might have to look for it though.

*****

***

*

This is the gruesome tale of a man made out of steel  
But the heart he had inside him was just, and could feel

This story does not start **"A long long time ago"**  
For wherever is it said, that it must and shall be so?

Instead this tale it reaches, across the face of time  
Into a future, maybe yours, and maybe also mine

Into a time of violence and misery and pain  
Policemen trying to control the streets did so in vain

"_By the Lord we all should strike!"_ said so an angry cop  
But a mustached man, their captain, to this quickly put a stop

"_You are officers of law",_ to them he harshly said  
_"So you do not strike, now go out there and try not to get dead!"_

At this time when crime was ripe, and lawmen at a loss  
Cop Lewis got assigned a brand new partner, by her boss

Murphy, Lewis partner, seemed to be an able lad  
Thought Lewis, and ignored the silly habits that he had

Then corporate men in smartly suits attend a meeting so  
That they may gaze upon that which will be the bandits' woe

Dick Jones introduced, with pride in mind and voice  
A two-legged machine, making an awful lot of noise

"_Enforcement Droid 209"_ Dick severely said  
And proceeded to let demonstrate how crime was to be shed

But lo, this faulty beast during the meeting ran amuck  
Its one track mind in Killing Mode, mightily got stuck

When the mayhem finally stopped, to late it proved to be  
Mr. Kinney's bloody fate, got sealed indefinitely

Rickard 'Dickie' Jones did let down the man of old  
_"I am very disappointed!"_ to Dick The Old Man told

In this shameful hour, Bob Morton saw his chance  
To win the Old Mans favor, and beside him took his stance

"_Perhaps you are aware, sir, of my most terrific plan"_  
Said Morton to the boss, who soon became an avid fan

As he left, Bob Morton dared to look Dick in the eye  
And Dick he looked right back, so very angry he could cry

Later in the day, Bob Morton was elated  
_"The fumbling Dick"_ he said, _"made my winning justly fated"_

Johnson pointed warningly, to Kinney's quick demise  
_"Such is life in the big city",_ said Morton the unwise

Our heroes in true blue, now outside a coffee shop  
Where Murphy spun his gun to show who was the better cop

But when called upon to stop a rotten gang of fleeing thieves  
Neither one of them did know that this would end in horrid grief

For the thieves they rushed to hinder, not a merry little group  
Was led by Clarence Boddicker, who would to murder stoop

You see Clarence was already, set in a mood most foul  
With burned loot in his hand to Bobby he did growl

"_You destroyed all of our money, you sphincter-looking man!"_  
And, on Tiny Bobby he quite harshly laid his hand

"_They might as well be marked!"_ and Bobby new that he was dead  
When Clarence tried to push the money right into his head

And so, when Murphy and his partner closed up on the van  
The thieves threw Bobby out the door, and then hastily they ran

But Lewis and Murphy, tenacious as can be  
Followed Clarence and his gang to a nearby factory

Any help they hoped to get would take too long to come  
So they went in just the two, unwisely and quite dumb

Lewis caught the colored Joe, peeing all alone  
But got knocked out when glancing down upon his fleshy bone

Murphy found Emil the driver, and clearly made him see  
That _"Dead or alive, you are coming back with me"_

Bad guys crawled out sudden, from under every rock  
And Murphy knew that of his life it time was to take stock

Clarence threateningly said _"Cops and I don't get along"_  
He aimed his sawed off shotgun, humming a weird song

"_Na-Na-Na-Na-Na"_ hummed Clarence, but kept aiming nonetheless  
And then swiftly turned the cops right hand into a bloody mess

"_Well give the man a hand!"_ said Clarence laughing merrily  
And Lewis, now awake, showed up in time to sadly see

Poor Murphy shot a million times but somehow still alive  
Until Clarence raised his gun, and thus ended Murphy's strive

Strange it seems but Murphy still alive was later on  
In desperation medics tried to keep him hanging on

They finally did give up at quarter past the hour six  
And left for Morton's team to do their futuristic tricks

"_He died"_ said Johnson _"with his corpse we do most as we please"_  
_"Full bodily prosthesis",_ hasted Morton then with ease

He looked his unfinished creation in the eye and said to he  
_"A very woeful sodomizer, of mothers thou will be!"_

The awaited day arrived, when it was for all to know  
What Bob Morton and his team, had kept hidden down below

A pompous Morton called him, _"The future of the law"_  
While all looked on with bulging eyes, and this is what they saw

A man of average height, but equally wide  
Incased in silvery metal, on both front and back and side

His head was also covered, and a visor shield his eyes  
And a terrifying gun, was hidden inside his right thigh

But his unexpressive mouth, was his most distinctive feature  
Naked down to pinkish skin, his link from man to creature

As he walked around the room, the people cheered him on  
His thudding footsteps hinted, that he weighed at least a ton

We return now to the precinct, where Lewis still reside  
She was not there however, when the robot walked inside

Bob Morton pushed aside Captain Reed and put him down  
_"This is not your business!",_ and Reed could all but frown

They showed the metal man, to a custom fitted chair  
Behind a fence he'd be, as if a guest in Batman's lair

They said for him to sit, and he said _"Yes, I understand"_  
They tested his recording skills, and food of unknown brand

Bob Morton asked him promptly, to state his main three goals  
_"To Serve the public trust, and Protect the frightened souls"_

"_And also"_, said the metal man, _"to Uphold the law"_  
Morton smiled and felt his icy self begin to thaw

Perhaps his smile would fade, if he had seen that there was more  
That a secret oozed in Robo's mind, called Prime Directive Four

But let's for now leave this behind, in time we will return  
Instead we move inside a place, where trigger fingers burn

On the shooting range the noise was deafeningly loud  
But soon all stop, except for one who's gathering a crowd

The metal man was showing off, destroying all in sight  
While Morton he looked on and laughed out loud with all his might

From way back in the crowd, Lewis carefully observed  
That afterwards, before the ringing noise had stopped reverb

The robot man spun his gun, one of no small size  
Her partner Murphy's move, she could not help but recognize

In disbelief she stared at him, as he walked away  
She did attend his funeral, now here he was today

"_My man requires transportation",_ Morton said to Reed  
Then proudly watched, as Robo left to do his noble deed

Imagine now the music, as it swells and does its thing  
Marching style percussion, with the trumpets and the strings

Through the night our hero, he will lead the righteous way  
We sense that from this moment, everything will be okay

We follow his triumphant path, in the crime filled street  
And got to watch a foulmouthed robber, his end quickly meet

Attempted rape got foiled, when Robo pulled his gun  
And shot the rapist in the crotch, a horrifying pun!

But afterwards, the victim, she not even got a pat  
_"I will notify a crisis center", _and that was sadly that

At City Hall, police and press had gathered like a mob  
To watch a man with hostages, try to get back his job

"_This is"_ said one police, _"a situation tricky"_  
But when RoboCop arrived, things got easier – quickly

"_Keep him talking"_ Robo said, and then made his way inside  
The policeman, through a speaker, tried a verbal hand of slide

"_Tell us what you want, and it to you we will bring"  
"Just please release the mayor and we'll give you anything"_

The desperate man began to ramble on about a car  
This demand, seem the most important one by far

As he spoke he failed to hear the steps outside the wall  
And quickly he was grabbed right through the layered bricks and all

Robo knocked him through the window, and he went flying out  
Recorded on the cameras filming all that went about

Later on the news, this was right at the top  
And the many questions mount, who indeed is RoboCop?

In a segment on his fans, (of whose size he's more than double)  
Robo looked into the camera and said _"Please stay out of trouble"_

To predict no more crime, Bob Morton then saw fit  
But no matter what he said, you could not help to think; Git!

Git or not, Bob Morton, he was moving up the chain  
And to the flashy bathroom, he access now had gained

He entered it in conversation, with another suit  
Putting down Dick Jones, as he was draining out his flute

Suddenly the bathroom, seemed more empty than before  
A flushing sound, then Dick came out, to settle the old score

The suit right next to Morton, in panic so he fled  
So quick to leave he missed the drain, and hit his pants instead

Not afraid of Dickie Jones, though he looked quite grim  
Morton stayed to wash his hands, while Dick loomed over him

"_When __I__ was young and dumb",_ Dick treacherously smiled  
_"We called the Old Man funny names, but __we__ did so with style"_

"_I contracted ED 209, who cares it worked or not!"_  
_"To bad for you",_ Bob Morton Said, _"the Old Man cared a lot"_

Dick circled around Bob, and said _"He is a sweet old man"_  
_"But when he dies, in not too long, your job is in the can"_

He grabbed Bob by the hair and growled _"You really need to know"  
"If you play with the piranha, you might lose more than a toe!"_

A final warning Dick to Bob then ominously gave  
_"You better pray your robot monster does not misbehave!"_

As he left, the shaking Morton almost hit the deck  
For he could feel that bastard Dick, breathing down his neck

With Dicks final words, still ringing through the night  
The metal man, in his chair, was having quite a fright

Semantic Response, or Dreaming, as it were  
Images of family, and nasty men occur

The sensors and the gages, performed a hectic dance  
Then suddenly he stood right up, as rigid as a lance

He purposefully left his chair, and headed for the door  
While technicians all around, were confused and in uproar

Somewhere down the hallway, on his way outside  
Lewis saw her chance, and fell in to his stride

She said _"My name is Lewis",_ and then asked him for his name  
She struggled how to tell him, he and Murphy were the same

With people closing in, time grew short and this she knew  
She looked him squarely in the eye and told him _"Murphy, it is you!"_

It wasn't hard to tell, that he was taken quite aback  
But instantly composed himself, for this he had a knack

"_Somewhere crime is happening",_ he said and walked away  
Bob Morton asked her all about it, later on that day

The metal man now aimlessly, was cruising through the streets  
Like a man without a bed, but with millions of sheets

He knew he had to search, but for what he didn't know  
So he rode on through the night, and it was lucky he did so

For a robbery in progress, turned out to be Emil  
Taking petty cash, and also petrol he would steal

He asked his victim questions, taunting him for fun  
He said _"You think you're smart, but are you smarter than my gun?"_

Robocop arrived, and told Emil how it would be  
_"Dead or alive, you are coming back with me"_

Emil he stopped and stared, at this futuristic cop  
He could have said _"freeze"_ or _"halt"_ or maybe even _"stop"_

But this sounded like the man, that they had shot a hundred times  
So he raised his gun, deafened, by all the warning chimes

As he shot his gun, _"We killed you"_ so he said  
He said it one more time, and let out a blunt "_You're dead!"_

In shock as Robo was, he recorded nonetheless  
What looked like a solution, to his identity's duress

But when mixing gas and bullets, a price you have to pay  
The explosion shook the ground, as Emil he sped away

Engulfed inside exploding flames of burning gasoline  
Robo shot the thug, or rather shot his speed machine

Emil crashed his bike, and Robo asked him _"Who are you?"_  
But Emil could only groan, so Robo knew what he must do

In the records of police, he scanned faces from his dream  
Soon he found Emil, and the others in his team

Under Clarence Boddicker, he found a golden clue  
That which Lewis called him, when she said that _"It is you"_

Listed under victims, of Clarence murder spree  
Was this Murphy really who he was supposed to be?

Apparently he once had lived somewhere on Primrose Lane  
He knew he had to visit there, or else he'd go insane

Arriving at the house, he found it was for sale  
The empty space inside, had air unused and stale

He staggered through the rooms, digging up his past  
Clinging to the visions that, sadly wouldn't last

His unwanted predicament, raged inside his mind  
The ones that were responsible, he now set out to find

Time was none to waste, so he arrested Leon Nash  
_"Lead me straight to Clarence, or you __will__ be soundly thrashed!"_

But for now, let's leave the metal cop to find his man  
For Bob Morton had two women, nasty powder and a plan

With cocaine inside his nose, and filth inside his head  
_"Smart women are sexy",_ a drooling Morton said

His fumbling advance, was interrupted by the bell  
_"It must be the champagne",_ but outside awaited hell

The hell of Clarence Boddicker, toting a big gun  
_"Wenches please disperse"_ he said, and ruined Morton's fun

Bob Morton was outraged, embarrassed and quite scared  
_"Do you know who I am!",_ he yelled as loudly as he dared

Clarence, without speaking, a silencer produced  
A sign not very good, this Bob Morton could deduce

And true it was, for Clarence shot him twice in every leg  
In a pool of blood, for his life he had to beg

He was shown a message from Dick Jones who sneeringly was saying  
_"I guess about now you're on your knees, praying"_

That Dick would go this far, Morton thought was quite absurd  
_"I'm cashing you out",_ said Dick the dangerously disturbed

To his horrid disbelief, Clarence held up a grenade  
He pulled the pin and set it down, then a farewell bade

With bullet ridden legs, Morton's future now looked grim  
The following explosion, tore his body limb from limb

We move ahead in time, maybe one or several days  
Inside a cocaine factory, we for a while will stray

Machines packing wares, worth a billion and one dollar  
Like an awful drug induced, Modern Times in Technicolor

The owner, a wine drinking pseudo snob named Sal  
Was arguing with Clarence, they were not each other's pal

"_You and me are both the same"_, but Clarence disagreed  
_"Lowering your price, is an advice that you should heed"_

Said Sal: _"I'm unsettled, by your powerful connections"_  
Clarence shrugged and said, _"I don't care 'bout your objections"_

Their argument, with shocking force, suddenly was halted  
Someone didn't seem to care, the door was locked and bolted

When Robo entered, all sprung up, ready on the double  
_"Come with me"_, Robo said, _"or there will be…trouble"_

The shooting that ensued, resulted in the death  
Of almost everyone, in the room that could draw breath

Saving Clarence to the end, (I'm sure this was his plan)  
But he would do this by the book, and arrest this man

Thinking he was surely dead, Clarence started yelling  
_"There is a man of higher stature, this to you I'm telling!"_

Squeezing Clarence throat, he could not resist the urge  
Clarence let_ "It's Dick Jones!"_ be his final purge

Robo let it stop, at excruciating pain  
And arrested Clarence, focus set on higher up the chain

At the murky precinct, the mood was far from bliss  
When Robo turned in Clarence saying, _"A cop killer he is"_

With his evidence recorded, Clarence Greatest Hits  
RoboCop set out to tear Dick Jones in tiny bits

What he really meant to do, was not to kill but to arrest  
And this is where your memory, gets put to bitter test

Cause when Robo said to Dick, _"To a prison you'll be taken"_  
Something inside Robo's head, was suddenly awaken

Cramping up in seizures, he stumbled to the ground  
Making noises, like an awful grinding torture sound

Dick smiled and said _"You want to know what's wrong with your condition?"  
"It's called Directive Four, and is my personal addition"_

"_If I myself may say so, it is clever and a half"  
"It prevents you from arresting senior members of our staff"_

"_We cannot have our product turn against us, that won't do"  
"Now here is someone I would like to introduce to you"_

Clonking noises, thunderous steps, and there was 209  
The psychopathic robot, Dick insisted was just fine

"_I killed Bob Morton, cause he made a terrible mistake"_  
Said Dick and stepped aside, to let his robot overtake

It's tempting to describe the match as equally teamed  
But truth in here, must be told, RoboCop got creamed

Thrown from room to room by his opponent's firepower  
It's safe to say he felt this might be his final hour

Dick called the police, when the fight got out of hand  
_"There's trouble in this house, send quickly every man!"_

When Robo took the stairs, his violent fiend got stuck  
Saved by bad design, and a healthy dose of luck

But his luck it runneth out, as he reached the bottom floor  
Where soon he'd be the victim, of metal thrashing gore

A fully armed assault team, his arrival was awaiting  
It seemed unfair that they, on RoboCop was hating

Fair or unfair, the mayhem soon commenced  
But luckily for Robo, this garage was poorly fenced

Clambering away, struggling to escape  
Fearing that he'd soon be held together by tape

Suddenly, a voice rang loudly through the air  
_"It's me! Lewis!"_ it said so very clear

Dodging many bullets, they sped hastily through the night  
Partners in crime, a couple in flight

The place where they hid, was ironic to see  
For it was the very place, where Murphy ceased to be

Clarence imprisonment, was readily forgotten  
For in the state of Detroit, things were surely rotten

At the huge corner office, Clarence soon arrived  
Where Dick Jones was angry, and loudly he cried

"_You mentioned my name and involved me, you prick!"_  
Clarence said _"Look at my face – Dick!"_

"_That thing, was trying to kill me dead!"_  
_"He recorded"_ said Dick _"everything that you said!"_

"_His memory is viable proof in court"_  
Clarence could only scoff and snort

Dick said to him _"I need you to kill it"  
"I trust that won't be a problem, will it"_

"_What's in it for me?"_ said Clarence the greedy  
_"This"_ said Dick _"is a city much needy"_

"_I'll make sure for all needs, you're the man to call"_  
Said Clarence: _"I guess we'll be friends after all"_

At the hideout, Robo had opened the door  
To a future where he would be Robo no more

Removing his helmet, shedding his skin  
To show on the outside, who he was within

Though freakishly looking, it was easy to see  
Who this machine, once used to be

Said Lewis: _"It's nice to see you again"_  
Said Murphy: _"My family, what happened to them?"_

"_They started over"_ she reluctantly said  
And implied that his wife had, once again wed

"_I can feel them"_ he said, voice fading away  
_"But cannot remember them, try as I may"_

On through the night, Murphy pondered his sorrow  
While downtown, armed and waiting on the morrow

Was Clarence and his band, of murderous scum  
Thieving bastards, dangerously dumb

With guns replacing both brains and brawn  
They set out to make Robo, dead by dawn

At the first sign of light, Lewis was woken  
It seemed Murphy's aim, was somewhat broken

As intimate as ever, they were to be  
She held his hand, and helped him see

Finished they were, luckily enough  
When the hoodlums showed up, acting all tough

Out loud they laughed, amongst each other  
And yelled _"Where is that metallic mother!"_

Murphy stepped out _"Are you looking for me!"_  
And shot one of them dead, they were now only three

Leon on foot, and Clarence in his car  
But Emil, with his van, would not go far

For he drove his van, with too much haste  
And amazingly crashed, into toxic waste

Emil stumbled out, onto the street  
A putrid, rotting, slab of meat

"_Help me!"_ he wheezed and wailed his plea  
And ironically so, for it was to be

That Clarence was chased, by Lewis the cop  
His speed was such that he failed to stop

When Emil staggered out, right in his path  
Like a bag full of slush, you do the math

Obscuring Clarence vision, did the melting man  
Blindly Clarence swerved, and off the road he ran

He landed upside down, after soaring through the air  
But I challenge you to think him dead - do it, I you dare

When Lewis stepped out from her car, Clarence then broke free  
Gun in hand, several times shot her, so did he

Said Clarence: _"Bye, bye baby"_, and aimed to show her heaven  
But then Murphy shouted "_Clarence!"_ in the hour of eleven

Said Murphy, as he neared: _"This time I won't arrest"_  
Of Clarence's nerves this situation was a mighty test

But help would come from somewhere, high up in a crane  
Where Leon Nash was ready, to on Robo make it rain

He pulled a lever making, a thousand tons of steel  
Hitting Murphy where he it most certainly would feel

"_I got him Clarence! I got him!"_ Nash shouted with delight  
But Lewis with a rocket gun, had him in her sight

The explosion meant that Leon Nash, immediately scattered  
This made Clarence quite upset, to him Nash had mattered

Angrily he grabbed a long piece of sharpened steel  
And advanced on the robot, to seal his rotten deal

Quickly and brutally, so fought the two  
Clarence ran RoboCop, all the way through

"_Sayonara"_ he said, and aimed for the kill  
But resourceful was Murphy, and strong he was still

As the bastard leaned forward, to scowl at him and gloat  
Murphy reached up forcefully, and tore out Clarence throat

Clarence went down gargling, all over spewing blood  
Making pools of ruby red, in the dark brown mud

Murphy his attention turned, to Lewis's plight  
_"Lewis!"_ he shouted, _"tell me quick, are you all right?"_

"_Murphy!"_ she managed, with a voice of fear and stress  
Then writhing in pain, let out _"I am a mess!"_

With bitterness Murphy's voice, sullenly did ring  
When he said _"They'll fix you, they'll fix most anything"_

Meanwhile in the boardroom, where poor Kinney was slain  
The Old Man's fading interest, was going down the drain

Dick Jones was speaking proudly, certain he had won  
Now that all things Morton, was finally undone

When the doors flung open, and Murphy stepped inside  
Everybody turned, and Dick Jones's eyes grew wide

"_How may we help you officer?"_ The Old Man said with tact  
_"Dick Jones is wanted for murder"_, stated Murphy as a fact

"_That thing"_, Jones fretted _"is a violent psychopath"_  
He was profoundly sweating, as if he'd had a bath

"_The programming I have, locked inside my head"  
"Forbids me to take action"_, Murphy calmly said

It seemed The Old Man asked, with high hopes and expectations  
_"Do you perhaps have proof, of these serious accusations?"_

Dick Jones watched in horror that which Murphy had recorded  
It was himself admitting, that he Mortons death had ordered

(If this you don't remember, retrace your steps you can  
No shame in having a two-year-olds, defunct attention span)

In panic Jones decided, this was no longer fun  
He grabbed The Old Man, at his head pointing a big gun

"_I'll board a chopper with my hostage!"_ Jones proclaimed out loud  
It almost seemed the stupid man, of his plan was proud

Maybe Murphy counted, on The Old Man's mind  
To be one of the sharp, awake and puzzle solving kind

The Old Man's clever head, one simply must admire  
When he bellowed loudly, that _"Dick! You are FIRED!"_

With an electronic bleep, Directive Four was gone  
Now Dick Jones was valued, even lower than a pawn

"_Thank you"_ Murphy said, as content as one could be  
The Old Man threw his elbow back, and easily was free

Dick Jones could only stand there, paralyzed with fear  
Naked in the headlights, like a frozen deer

Within a millisecond or maybe three or four  
Murphy's bullets all the way through Jones's body tore

He staggered backwards, through the window, falling to his death  
Screaming all the way, until he bashed right out of breath

Murphy spun his gun, and began to walk away  
But stopped and turned his head, when he heard The Old Man say

"_Very nifty shooting son, tell me, what's your name?"_  
This was the moment after which, none would be the same

Pride and joy and sense of self, filled his wired head  
He looked The Old Man in the eye, _"Murphy"_ he then said

The crescendo of the music, leads us to believe  
That everything is well enough, for us to finally leave

Knowing that the city is protected by the best  
We bid farewell to Murphy, and Lewis and the rest

**The End**

*****

***

*

**About me**  
I love to write, and I do so frequently. Like everyone else in the free world I have a blog,  
in which I pester my friends and family (the only ones nice enough to read it) with whatever  
pops into my head. Funny thoughts, angry tantrums, painful recollections......or Movie related texts!  
Because as much as I love to write, I love movies even more! On average I probably watch  
two or three movies every week, and I constantly use my blog to write about them, be they  
remarkably good – or horrendously bad. I have written movie reviews on a more or less  
professional level, and even though I sometimes thrived in trashing a particularly bad piece  
of cinema, or in passionately trying to get others to see a movie I had fallen in love with,  
I find the blog (or column) format, in which one can seemingly without restriction ramble on  
about whatever comes to mind, much more enjoyable.

**About RoboCop: The Bed Time Story**  
Let's get the important stuff over with right away!  
This is nothing more than fan fiction and it is in no way affiliated with anyone involved  
in the creation of RoboCop. No ownership is assumed, no infringement is intended.

So, however does one get the idea to take a violent piece of science-fiction cinema,  
and rewrite it as a rhyming bed time story? Besides being a huge RoboCop fan,  
two people in particular have been major sources of inspiration.  
-The first person is film maker and screenwriter Adam Bertocci, who one day decided to write  
a play manuscript called _Two Gentlemen Of Lebowski_, an exploration in what it would have looked  
like had William Shakespeare written the The Cohen Brothers fabulous piece of cinematic art;  
_The Big Lebowski_. Bertocci's fascinating manuscript, in which he bent the words of a contemporary  
movie to fit the world of Shakespeare, was a tough read (especially for someone not used to  
reading Shakespeare), but intoxicating nonetheless!  
Shortly after having read it, I began writing _RoboCop: The Bed Time Story_.  
-The second person is my friend, Daniel, who first made me aware of Adam Bertocci's play manuscript.

**About RoboCop**  
Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner wrote a screenplay, and in 1987 director Paul Verhoeven  
turned it into the movie RoboCop. The movie is today considered a cult classic (and has probably  
been so ever since its release). It is a violent science fiction tale, jam packed with social criticism  
and cynical predictions of things to come. Today it is a harsh reality check, for anyone  
who back in 1987 thought the world was going to be a more peaceful place in the future!  
We are, in 2010, frighteningly close to RoboCop's 23 year old vision of "violence in the future".  
With that in mind, I found it only fitting to have a go at replacing the princesses,  
the wicked witches and all the other cutesy bed time story items…with some blood soaked  
violence, tragic loss of identity and victory through vengeance and gunfire.

**To RoboCop fans and nitpickers out there:**  
I have worked very hard to keep _RoboCop: The Bed Time Story_ as close to the original as possible,  
but when I was unable to do that – I at least tried to stay true to its spirit!  
So, I am very much aware that I have taken liberties with everything from big and small  
details in the story, to lines uttered by the characters in it, but I will simply call this artistic license.  
Sometimes I had to omit certain things, or twist them slightly, to make the rhyming just a little bit easier.  
Same goes for the lines, not only did I need to change things because I intended to cut/replace  
the curse words, I was also very often forced to either bend the words, twist the order of them  
or just boil down an entire conversation to a few paragraphs, or even words.  
But, whenever I could use a line quoted verbatim, I have done so (and been overjoyed at my own cleverness)!

_RoboCop: The Bed Time Story_ © 2010 Mikael Karlsson  
Contact info: ralph_ hinkley (AT) (mostly in Swedish)

To download this story as a PDF-document, please visit .com/2010/02/04/robocop-the-bed-time-story/


End file.
